Bankruptcy: What If I’m Behind On Utility Payments?

When it comes to determining if
you are going to file a bankruptcy a number of questions begin popping
up. People ask about student loans, homes, cars, etc. It is often not until
they are just about to file that some of the more subtle questions
are asked. One of those questions is:

What Happens If I’m Behind On My Utility Bills?

If you are in this situation, please

understand that this happens quite frequently.

When creditors are calling and driving you up a wall, sometimes

a utility payment gets paid to another company instead, just to shut them up. After all, the utility companies don’t make

quite as much noise when you miss a payment. The downside is

that before you know it, you are a couple months behind and making partial

payments.

The good news is that you can

include those back payments in your bankruptcy.

When you do this, the utility company cannot shut off your utilities for

20 days after the time you file. After

you file they cannot shut off your service for non-payment of the bill you owed

before you filed, but they could then stop service for non-payment of any service used after the filing. For service going